Altitude Takes Mockup to a New Level

When it comes to mockups, Altitude Aerospace has taken it to a new level with the Boeing Business Jet Pounamu cabin that was on display last month at NBAA 2010. Project Pounamu was formed late last year, the child of a collaboration of skilled business jet interior specialists, partially funded by the New Zealand government, with a grant from New Zealand Trade and Enterprise.

Rather than build the cabin mockup in the traditional manner, theChristchurch-based center started with a retired Boeing 737 fuselage to create an “out of the ordinary” example of its design and engineering ­expertise, the skills of its upholstery and cabinetry artisans, and the experience of a crew of modification and installation specialists.

Visitors enter the mockup through a grand entrance and from there move into a salon with bar and seating for six. The next cabin zone is a fully functioning ­conference room equipped with a 55-inch, high-definition LED monitor, credenzas of exotic wood veneers and swiveling executive seats. “We took as much ‘mock’ out of this mockup as possible,” said business development ­manager Sue Hart. A new ducting system gives the mockup a more spacious cabin with an additional four inches of headroom.

Altitude has already done several major BBJ refurbishments and expects to begin its first BBJ green completion in 2012.